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#99 - Stop Overeating, Fixing Muscle Imbalances, Get Better Back Gains & More
26 Plays14 days ago
Question and answer episode where we talk through these five common topics
- Practical tips to stop you from overeating
- What you can do to fix muscle imbalances
- General guidelines to address low back pain
- Tips to build a more muscular back
- How long real long-lasting health changes take
If you have questions you want answered in the future episodes, message me on Instagram with the link below!
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Transcript
Introduction to the Fit Ish Project Episode 99
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome back to the fit ish project with your host late the bass where we make fitness and health simple for regular people getting into another weekly episode I think last week I was saying this was going to be episode number 100 but it's actually number 99 so we're closing in on 100 which again I think is pretty cool but uh been trying to be really consistent with this, get an episode out per week. So I appreciate you guys that have been listening from the very beginning. And I appreciate all you guys that have joined along the way. It's been cool to kind of see this thing grow and to help get more information out to people and make more of this fitness and health and all this kind of information more practical and easy to understand just to help you live a better life. That is the ultimate goal with this podcast. So we are going to plan to continue to do this, get an episode out every single week and keep this thing rocking.
Q&A: Overeating and Muscle Imbalances
00:00:52
Speaker
But
00:00:52
Speaker
We are at another Q&A episode. So questions that I get from you guys on social media, questions that I get from clients throughout the week or throughout the month, I should say, because I do these about once a month. And then just kind of sometimes questions that I just see on social media, things that are kind of popular, things like that. So we have five questions today.
00:01:12
Speaker
So the first one deals with tips for some overeating. If you're struggled with that in the past, which I know a lot of us have. I'm going to talk about just some easy tips that you can start implementing with that. How to deal with muscle imbalances.
00:01:24
Speaker
How long does it actually take to make permanent change? Some lat pull-down cues. And then lastly, just some tips on dealing with some lower back pain, which I know is also something that a lot of people
Understanding and Managing Overeating
00:01:35
Speaker
struggle with. So getting into question number one, it says, I've struggled with overeating for a really long time, and I know it's what's been holding me back from losing weight and getting healthy.
00:01:45
Speaker
I've been trying to change, but I'm finding it really difficult. Any tips? Yes, I do have some tips because I also dealt with this for a very long time. So the very first thing that you have to do, which it looks like you have kind of started to do that, is just get aware.
00:02:01
Speaker
Just get aware around food and just understand Where this overeating is happening and when it's happening, just start to be more conscious about this because a lot of people go through life just eating and they're not really realizing that things that they're eating, they're not realizing if they're actually hungry or not.
00:02:18
Speaker
They don't even know if they even want food or not. They're just like so habituated to just eating in certain patterns because it's something that you've been doing for so long. And a lot of these patterns and a lot of these habits that we picked up were things that we picked up years ago, like back all the way to like your childhood.
00:02:33
Speaker
And so you have to start to just create more awareness around food and start to just realize the decisions that you're making. Because if you have no idea about what's actually going on and you're not even wanting to take a look at what's going on, you're going to really struggle to ever make any kind of change. And so That is step number one is just start to become more aware. So like in the moment when you feel yourself like you wanting food, you're wanting a snack, you're wanting to eat, like actually ask yourself, am I actually hungry right now? Or am I just wanting this food for some other type of reason? Maybe it's stress, maybe it's boredom, maybe it's.
00:03:04
Speaker
some certain emotion that you're feeling because you're going through some certain life event or something really hard or you had a bad day or something like that. So just start to realize in the moment, become more aware of that situation and then ask like why it is that you want that thing.
00:03:19
Speaker
And then once you've done those two things in the moment, then you can just ask yourself like, okay, now that I understand I'm not actually really hungry. i just want eat because stressed. Now make a choice. Make a conscious choice about whether you want to have that food.
00:03:32
Speaker
Because a lot of times it's not necessarily that people struggle with like this overeating thing. It's like they they get in this really bad loop of like, I wasn't necessarily hungry. I was stressed out. I use food to satisfy this need of getting rid of my stress. And now I feel guilty about it. And then you get into this really bad spiral, this really bad loop, and it just continues. So maybe like you binge eat or you find yourself just continually going back to this certain thing. But when you can stop, be more aware of it, think about why it is that you're making that certain choice and then actually make a choice. Either I'm going to eat this food or no I'm not going to eat this food. It kind of gives you the control back so you don't feel like this food has this pull over you. It doesn't have this power over you.
00:04:11
Speaker
Once you start to do that more and more often, you'll find yourself being just more in the moment, being more present and being like, okay, I know I'm stressed. I know I'm pissed off. I know I had a bad day. I'm not going to use food to soothe this certain need that I have right now. I'm going to go for a walk or listen to some music or go watch a Netflix episode or something along those sorts where like, you don't feel like you're necessarily out of control. So that's one really simple thing that you can start doing. And this is something that doesn't necessarily happen. Like right away, this is a lot of trial and error because these are things that you've been doing for a really long time. And it takes time to start to change these patterns.
00:04:46
Speaker
But the more and more that you can do this, you can get to a place where you do feel like overeating is is not something that you struggle with so much. And so the next part of this is just kind of like thinking about like where this root problem is coming from, because it can also
Balanced Diet and Moderation
00:04:59
Speaker
be some other things. So like if you're eating a really imbalanced diet, like if your just diet is all over the place, you're not really eating enough protein, you're not getting enough nutrients, like you're eating a ton of highly processed foods, like you're probably going to find yourself overeating or having cravings and things like that all the time. And so Starting to fix some of those things, eating ah balanced diet would be a very good start. Proteins, veggies, fiber, eating those things that are going to lead you to not being so likely to overeat more often. If you're over restricting, this was also something that I struggled with as I started to lose weight is like completely trying to cut out like all of the
00:05:37
Speaker
highly processed foods like desserts, pizzas, like all that kind of stuff. And I've talked about this so many different times. And it's not that your diet should ever be fully comprised of all those things because you're not going to feel great.
00:05:49
Speaker
You're not going to look the way you want and your health is going to struggle if it is completely composed of those certain types of foods. But for a lot of people, if you can add those things in moderation, you don't have to approach it with such a strict way. And you start to realize that, oh, I can actually be healthy while having some desserts and having pizza and having a drink here and there. And you can still hit your goals and you can still be on track. And once you can start to implement these things, and you actually start to look forward to your diet, you'll notice that you don't struggle with these problems of overeating. Because a lot of times what happens is people will get super strict with something.
00:06:24
Speaker
Yeah, I'm never going to have soda again, I'm never going have sweets again, I'm never going to have sugar again. It's like, yeah, you can do that for a while. But eventually you're going to get to a point where like you're going to break like you want to have some of those things in moderation.
00:06:36
Speaker
You want to have those things every once in a while. You go out to eat. You want to have a nice dessert. You go hang out with some friends. You want to have a drink like you want to have those things in your life in moderation. And so being able to start to implement those things and have that balance is really key to stopping some of this overeating and these like banish cycles that a lot of people get into.
00:06:55
Speaker
Third thing is like just realizing if it is coming from like stress, boredom, emotional eating, like again, start to realize those things and then start to replace those things or deal with those things in a little bit healthier way. So I mentioned like a lot of people will use exercise, but and really anything that is like stress relieving, because a lot of people use food as that release, as that stress release, as that boredom thing, as that way to like soothe their emotions and handle their emotions.
00:07:22
Speaker
find some other healthier behavior that you can do that replaces eating because it's much easier to find something to replace a habit than it is to just completely quit a habit. So like you start to feel yourself like you have a stressful day or you're just really bored or you're just eating out of emotion, like find some sort of activity, like just have a list of activities that you know you enjoy that's going to help kind of relieve that stress that you can replace with that whole eating habit. So like I said, you could go exercise, you go for a walk,
00:07:49
Speaker
Go talk to somebody, like talk to a friend, hang out with a friend, like listen to music, play video games, watch something funny on YouTube. Like there's literally a million different ways. There's no right or wrong way to do this, but just having some sort of like just having a list of activities or just things that you know you really enjoy doing that's going help you handle those situations can be super helpful.
Building Better Eating Habits
00:08:07
Speaker
And then the last thing I would say is just like thinking a little bit more about like planning and just thinking about your environment in general, because a lot of people struggle with overeating because they try to just wing it. Like a lot of people, like I said, have these certain habits. They have these eating patterns that have been in place that just aren't doing them any good. And like, they're just things that they know they need to change, but they struggle with it. And so if you want a different result, you're goingnna have to do different things. I forget that quote. It's something about like,
00:08:35
Speaker
doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is what's known as insanity and that's exactly true like if you keep doing the things that you've always done you're going to have the same result so you have to start doing different things so maybe that means taking five to ten minutes to plan your meals the beginning of the week maybe it means meal prepping for a little bit maybe you start to do different things and you start to implement better eating habits so instead of eating all your meals in front of the tv or with your phone you start to sit down at a table get rid of your distractions and you actually start to enjoy your food and You enjoy some conversation with somebody while you're eating your meals rather than just being distracted by screens. You start to put your fork down in between bites and just like really savor the food. Like these small little things, they start to add up.
00:09:16
Speaker
Because again, if you just continue to do all the things that you've always done, you're just going to continue to struggle. And so implementing some of these things, I know that was a lot of information there. Just start to kind of come... aware of what's actually going on and then start to implement some of these things once you understand where the root of that problem is coming from. And once you start to do that day after day, you start to realize like what's actually going on and you start to make positive choices.
00:09:39
Speaker
Each time you can do that, you're helping yourself out. to be better and better down the road. And then eventually you get to a place where like, you don't struggle with this stuff anymore. I've talked about this with my own personal like journey of doing this. Like when I first got into weight loss, like I really just like gritted my way through it. Like I just relied on willpower and and motivation and all that kind of stuff. And like,
00:09:59
Speaker
backfired a little bit because i ended up gaining weight back because i couldn't sustain that for years and years and years on end until i really like dug in and like started to work on some of this stuff and think about what was actually going on and change some of these patterns and some of these habits but now it's something that i don't struggle with like i'm the leanest i've ever been i feel the best i've ever been the healthiest i've ever been and like food is not something that i stress over or have guilt over or anything like that so It's definitely is possible if you're willing to do the work and really willing to work on this stuff. But again, it does not happen
Causes and Solutions for Muscle Imbalances
00:10:30
Speaker
overnight.
00:10:30
Speaker
Question number two, I noticed I have a pretty big difference in muscles between my left and my right arm. What can I do to fix this? So this is just muscle imbalances, which are pretty common and they're fairly normal.
00:10:43
Speaker
ah You start to develop muscle imbalances for a lot of different reasons. It could be like sports, like if you played some sort of like Let's say you play baseball or you play like tennis or something like that. Like your right side is probably going to be a little bit bigger and stronger than your left side. Or if you play some sort of sport that was super dominant with your upper body versus your lower body, you might have some muscle imbalances between your.
00:11:05
Speaker
lower and upper body. And so these things aren't uncommon and they happen quite a bit. It could even just be like lifestyle type of things. Like if you have a job that's like super repetitive, or even if you have like habits or hobbies or things that you do that are really repetitive in nature, doing these certain things could cause you to have imbalances in certain ways or another. So You do want to try to correct some of these things, especially just from like a quality of life perspective, but also just like with preventing injury, that is something that if you have a lot of muscle imbalances, like you could be having more injuries more often, things like that from a aesthetic reason, or basically just like looking or thinking about how you look. It's also probably important. You, you know, you have the classic gym bro example of like the guy who skips legs, who has tiny legs, but a huge like upper body, like
00:11:53
Speaker
it just doesn't look good And I know with females, they're typically kind of the opposite. Like they love to do lower body stuff and they sometimes neglect the upper body stuff. And so like, you don't want a super strong, like thick lower body and have these like tiny arms. You want your body to kind of look symmetrical. And we all have kind of different images of what we want ourselves to look like. But I think in general, we all want to have that certain symmetrical kind of balanced physique when it comes to the way that we look. And just for those aesthetic reasons,
00:12:21
Speaker
Another thing is just like better mobility and flexibility. If you have some of these imbalances, it could start to affect like your mobility and your flexibility and, And then you start having like these weird aches and pains. You just don't move as well as you start to age, things like that.
00:12:34
Speaker
And then, like i said, just quality of life as well. Like you want to be able to to do all the activities that you want to do. And if you have like really big muscle imbalances in certain ways, they might be preventing you from actually doing some of the things that you love to do. So those are all reasons that you want to start to correct some of these muscle imbalances. So these things don't turn into bigger problems down the road. So some things that you can actually start to do.
00:12:55
Speaker
A very simple one is start to implement more single arm, single leg type of exercises. And so instead of doing like everything on like barbells, you could just use dumbbells because now you're using each arm individually. You're not just using a barbell or instead of doing everything with two legs. Now you can start to do some single leg stuff. So you start to do like some lunges, some split squats, things like that, where you're using one singular leg versus both legs at the same time.
00:13:24
Speaker
And by implementing more of these single arms, single leg types of exercises, you can start to address some of those balances. This is also something that you can do on machines as well. So like just using one leg on like, let's say like a leg curl or a leg extension or a leg press or upper body, instead of doing like rows pull downs or things like that with both arms, you could just do it with one. So like there's just single cable attachments where you're only using one arm at a time. You can start to do some of that stuff and start to balance some of those things out.
00:13:53
Speaker
Another thing you can start to do is just adding in a little bit of mobility work. So addressing some of those imbalances so that your body is moving better. So if you start to notice that like maybe like your shoulder or your hip on one side is really tight, starting to do some like mobility to address certain things within your body and start to make sure that your joints and all those things are moving very well. Because if your mobility is on point and you can move a little bit better, it's going to allow you to get better form and technique in the gym, which is the next point that I would get to is making sure that your form and your technique when it comes to like strength training and exercise is just super dialed in because that's a really really easy way to start to create some imbalances is if you're forming your technique is just trash you're really going to start to see some of those differences within like side to side left to right upper body lower body things like that and so slowing down just making sure that you're using really proper form and proper technique is a really good way to start to balance some of these things out
00:14:49
Speaker
and then the last thing that i would say is like when it comes to imbalances like you're probably not going to get to 100 where like your right side is 100 to your left side and it's normal to have some difference in there like we all have a dominant foot we all have a dominant hand unless you're in by dextrous which you know you have both sides that are equally the same you're going to have some of those differences so you're not going to get to 100 perfect but trying to get within like 10 to 15 if we're thinking from like a strength perspective. Like, so if I can lift 50 pounds on my right side, I shouldn't be able to only lift 25 pounds on my left side on like a dumbbell shoulder press or something like that. It should be pretty close. Like if I can do a 50 on my right, then I should at least be able to do like a 40, 45 on my left.
00:15:33
Speaker
So getting somewhere in the ballpark there, so you can start to address some of those imbalances. And then the last thing I would say is just like from an aesthetic point is just using the eye test, like looking at yourself in the mirror, looking at progress pictures and just seeing like If you're starting to correct some of those imbalances, if you're building muscles in the right places and starting to look the way that you want to look, because ultimately you're the one that has to live with your body. So like, if you like the way that you look and you think that you look symmetrical and you like the way that you look, that's what really matters. So that's what I would say about muscle imbalances. A lot of things that you can start to do to address some of those things.
Habit Formation in Health and Fitness
00:16:07
Speaker
so
00:16:08
Speaker
Question number three, how long does it take to make lasting change when it comes to health and fitness? That's a good question. um And I think it's very, very individual in between people. Like some people will take to this stuff very quickly and they'll start to just dive headfirst into it and they'll start to see changes right away and start to like create new habits really, really quickly.
00:16:29
Speaker
But in general, I think when it comes to habits, like you've heard, it only takes 30 days or it takes 66 days or whatever the case may be. And it really just depends on the habit. Like the more complex the habit, the longer it typically is going to take somebody to build that certain habit.
00:16:44
Speaker
But anywhere between like two to six months to form like a really solid habit is pretty common. And further than that, or thinking into this a little bit deeper, like, yes, habits are important because that's ultimately where we want to get to, where these things kind of feel automatic.
00:16:58
Speaker
But I think it's also important to realize that health is a skill. And I think that once you realize health is a skill, it means that there's things that you can learn. And so the faster that you can start to learn these things and really understand these things, I think the quicker that you can start to form these quality habits and start to build to a place where like this does really feel like it's just automatic. And so understanding that these things are skills.
00:17:22
Speaker
and things that you can learn, there's like four stages that you have to go through. And this is just with any learning in general, there's four different stages that you go to when it comes to learning a skill. And I know for me, this is really helpful, because like, there's a lot of things that I suck at.
00:17:35
Speaker
But when I understand, like, this is the process that I can take, like, these are the steps that I can take to get through this and really understand, okay, like, in this first stage, like, I'm gonna suck, I don't really know what's going on, like,
00:17:46
Speaker
But as I start to understand this whole process of learning and just understand that like there is a formula to get through this thing. And these are the things that I can kind of expect. Like this is how long it's going to take those sorts of things. It starts to ease my mind a little bit and it lets me know that, okay, even though I'm not great at this thing, like I know that there's stages that I can go through. This is kind of what it's going to be like. And I know that ultimately I can get to my goal. And so when you're thinking about these different stages, when it comes to like fitness and health, you have stage one.
00:18:12
Speaker
Which is called unconscious incompetence. So if you think about those two words unconscious means like you really don't understand like you really don't you're not thinking about it. It's not a conscious decision. And then the second part of that is incompetent. So like if you're competent at something you're good at it. If you're incompetent, you're not up to standard, you're not good at it. so This is the stage where like you're unaware. Basically, you don't know what you don't know.
00:18:34
Speaker
So like you don't you're not even really thinking about fitness. You're not thinking about exercise. you're not thinking about diet. You don't know that you need to make improvements or want to make improvements. It's not even really a thought. And so this is kind of that first stage. But the fact that you're even listening to this podcast tells me that you're not in this stage. You're beyond this stage because you care about your health. You care about your fitness.
00:18:53
Speaker
You're wanting to learn more. You're wanting to make improvements, live a better life, all those certain things. Stage two is what we call conscious incompetence. So now you're conscious about your incompetence. So you're aware that you need to improve in certain ways or that you want to improve in certain ways. So like this could be with like you want to improve with your exercise, your technique, your form.
00:19:14
Speaker
You realize that you want to improve your diet because you realize there's some gaps and it's where you're currently at is not going to take you to where you want to go. You start to realize that you have a lot of control within your lifestyle factors and that the way that you're kind of living your life right now is not really taking you down the path that you want to get to.
00:19:32
Speaker
So you're aware of these things. But. you don't really have the skills and you're not really doing those things right now so that's stage number two and this is where when you first get into it this is kind of where you're at there's like a lot of new stuff you know that you need to change and you know there's a lot of work to do but you don't have any of the skills yet then the third stage that you get to which is called Conscious competence. So now this is where like you've been in it for a while.
00:19:55
Speaker
You understand how to perform some of these skills correctly. You're starting to get some of this knowledge. You're starting to get some of these skills. You're starting to put in some of the effort. You're starting to practice these certain things. So like you're getting in the gym, your forms getting better, your techniques getting better, you're getting stronger.
00:20:09
Speaker
Like you're starting to. eat better with your diet you're starting to make healthier choices but this is the stage where like it takes a lot of effort to do these things and so like you're getting better you're practicing you're doing all these things but it takes a lot of planning it takes preparation it takes energy it takes effort and so you're always having to think about these things which isn't a bad place to be and this is where a lot of people you'll spend a lot of that time and this is where you like really start to build and mold those habits and start to turn into that person that you really want to turn into ultimately leading you to the final stage, which I think is the goal to get to. And this is a stage that it takes a couple of solid years in health and fitness, like really prioritizing this stuff to get to this final level, which is called unconscious competence, which is basically now this stuff is on autopilot is the way that I describe it. And so like, it's when this skill becomes second nature. So like,
00:20:59
Speaker
When you see people, like you see a really good musician who like you watch them play and you're like, that is incredible. Like it just looks automatic. It's so smooth. And like, it looks like they're not even thinking about it. And really it's because they're not like, they're so into it. It's so ingrained in them that like, it's just that easy for them.
00:21:15
Speaker
Or like you watch a professional athlete, like do something in sports and you're like, that is nuts that that person can do that. and it's just because they've spent so much time, they put in so much practice. They've built up these skills over yeah over the years that now it it really is just automatic. to them. It's something that they don't think about anymore. So this is where you want to ultimately get to, because once you get to this point, it's like, you know, there's, there's no going back. It's like, people ask me sometimes if I'm afraid of gaining my weight back and like, no, I'm not because I'm at this stage now where like this stuff is just second nature. It's just part of me. It's just who I am. Like you get to this point and then
00:21:50
Speaker
It's like you start to do these things on the fly and you can really figure these things out and it doesn't take nearly as much thought or planning or energy as it used to. So like you look at foods and you know how much these foods have in macros. I was joking with a buddy of mine. It's like once you, after you've tracked calories for so long and like really like dove into food, like you read food labels and stuff, it's impossible to look at a plate of food and not think about like calories or protein or carbs or things like that.
00:22:15
Speaker
And so you get to these stages where like now you can walk into a gym. And even if you don't necessarily have a plan, like, you know, enough to go get a really good effective workout and use really good form on all your exercises.
00:22:27
Speaker
You have the ability to adjust and adapt on the fly as different so situations are thrown at you, because that's something that a lot of people really struggle with. It's like when life is going well and things are going just super smooth and like the schedule is routine, people don't struggle.
00:22:41
Speaker
But as soon as things start to come up, people really struggle because they aren't really able to adapt on the fly. But when you get to this stage, it's like, even when things are thrown at you, you can adjust really easily and still make all really good choices, really healthy choices.
00:22:56
Speaker
And so like, as you start to go through different phases of life where things maybe get a little bit more busy, they get more stressful, like start to have kids or maybe like kids have things going on. Like you have some big life events coming up. You have new job, like these big events start happening in life that would normally throw you way off track.
00:23:14
Speaker
That doesn't happen anymore. You get to this stage where it's like, okay, this is just who I am. Like I can roll with this. I can figure things out. And again, ultimately I think this is where everybody should strive to get forward because once you do that,
00:23:25
Speaker
health is not something that you struggle with. It's just part of who you are. And that's when like, you know, for certain, like, okay, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm in this stuff. Like, it's not, it's not something that I have to worry about ever going away. I have these skills. I have this mindset.
00:23:39
Speaker
I have these habits and I know that I'm going to be able to live healthy life today and healthy life years down the road. And so hopefully that was helpful with just like Approaching this whole thing and just understanding like in the beginning, like it's always going to be harder. But as you start to get better at these things that you start to practice these things, as you start to really learn and embrace these things and treat these things as skills, you will get better. And this stuff eventually becomes very easy and just becomes something that you don't have to think about nearly as much. This is a really nice place to be.
00:24:09
Speaker
Question number four, I'm struggling to feel my back and lat pulldowns. Can you give me some tips?
Back Training and Lower Back Pain
00:24:14
Speaker
Yes. So I had three different clients ask me this question. So I thought that I would just talk about it. And I know that when it comes to like some back training and It just really varies for people. But I've noticed that with back training specifically, a lot of people will be like, I don't really feel my lats, which are the big muscles on the outer outside of your back. Like if you're looking at somebody's back, they're kind of on that out outer part of your back. And if you want any kind of like back thickness, if you want like a big muscular looking type of back, which I know both a lot of guys and girls do, they want like a nice muscular back, then training your lats.
00:24:48
Speaker
through things like lat pulldowns, pull-ups, rows, things like that is the best way that you're going to get that. And so I think it's important to understand like how you can actually train your back the best and so that you can start to get some of those gains that you want to see and also just have a nice strong back.
00:25:01
Speaker
And so when it comes to pulldowns, some of the mistakes that i see a lot of people make is like their range of motion is just not sufficient it's really short and what i mean by that is so like when you start that motion you grab the bar you're at a lat pull down you have your hands overhead they're fully outstretched you want to pull your elbows all the way down towards your hip pockets do you get a nice good squeeze And then as you're coming back up, a lot of people, what they'll do is they'll only come like halfway back up. So their arms are still kind of bent. What you want to do though, is let your arms go all the way back up.
00:25:32
Speaker
So you feel a nice long pull, nice long stretch in those lat muscles on the side. And that is where you're getting a lot of that muscle growth because anytime we're getting a good stretch on the muscle, that's going to be a good thing for those hypertrophy gains and for making some gains within the muscles that we want to be hitting. So get a good stretch. Short range of motion is not what we want. We want long arms. so Second thing I see is a lot of people using too much weight. So if you're using too much weight, your form is just not going to be as good. Your technique is going to be a little bit off and A lot of times, especially men, will sacrifice using more weight rather than having better technique when in reality you want to use enough weight and really make sure that you're getting enough stimulus, but also make sure that you are able to use the proper technique. So it's kind of that Goldilocks zone. You don't want to be using too light of weight.
00:26:20
Speaker
but you don't want to be using too heavy a weight to where like your form just goes to crap. So make sure that you're not using too much weight so that your form stays on point. And then the last thing I would say, like the biggest mistake is just going too fast. So slowing down, especially as you're letting your arms come back up, like slow that down, really control it and really put some tension on the muscle because we want to get that good stretch. We want to put some tension on the muscles that we're getting the best gains when it comes to hypertrophy.
00:26:45
Speaker
And so again, just to reiterate, start long. Arms are really long at the start. Pull your elbows down towards your hip pocket, get a good squeeze, and then slowly bring that bar back up, get a good stretch, and just repeat that.
00:26:57
Speaker
If you do those things and you do them slow enough, you will start to feel those muscles actually working. You'll feel them within the exercise. You'll feel them once you get done with the set a little bit. You should feel like, oh okay, like now I know, like now I can feel that's what that feels like. And then the next day, you'll probably have a little bit of soreness in your lats.
00:27:13
Speaker
Those are all good signs that you're doing it the right way in there. you are going to be making better gains. And the last question of the day, question number five, I've been dealing with some lower back pain. Do you have any tips on this? So I'll give you some general guidelines. Obviously, I'm not a physical therapist or anything like that. So that's kind of out of my wheelhouse because there could be tons of different reasons why you're feeling this back pain and not all back pain is the same.
00:27:37
Speaker
And so if you have like some serious issues, if it's something that's been going on for a really long time, then obviously go get yourself checked out so you can get some more specific advice, but just some general things that you can do, because I know a lot of people do have issues with back pain first thing i would say is like movement is medicine this is something that i think a lot of people have wrong when it comes to pain is they think that they should just like anytime they have pain they shouldn't move at all they should just rest or stay in bed or not do any kind of movements and that's kind of the opposite of what you want to do you want to start to move even when you do have certain pain obviously you don't want to do anything stupid like you if your back is absolutely aching and like
00:28:14
Speaker
you you can barely walk like you don't want to go throw a barbell on your back and do 300 pound back squats but like if you can walk if you can get up and do certain things if you can get a little movement in the places like that's going to be a good thing and so just some general guidelines when it comes to that like movement being medicine a lot of us are very very sedentary or like you spend a lot of time at your desk you send you spend a lot of time in the same positions maybe crouched over your computer or sitting in a certain chair so your hips are super tight like all of these certain things can start to lead to some low back issues And so just making it a point to get up throughout the day, maybe take five minute breaks every hour, get a standing desk, get a walking treadmill, just start changing the way that you sit, like different positions throughout the day. All these little things can make a really big difference because it's the issue of just being super sedentary and just like sitting in these same positions all the time is not what our body is used to. Like our body is made to move. We want to move. And so when you start to like
00:29:09
Speaker
do these things over and over just repetitive kind of like with the muscle imbalance thing like you start to create these issues so take breaks throughout the day to just get up and move around put yourself in different positions ah The second thing I would say is just start to implement like five to 10 minutes of some sort of like mobility, flexibility, yoga, anything like that.
Morning Routine for Mobility and Flexibility
00:29:27
Speaker
I've been doing this morning routine for the past little over a month now because mobility is something I've really been wanting to add more and more of. I've gone through some different stretches where like I'm good at it and then I kind of fall off and then good at it and I kind of fall off. And I'm really, really trying to make it more of an emphasis as I get older.
00:29:44
Speaker
because I just know that it's so important to be able to move well. And so I've started to implement a morning routine and it's super simple because anytime you're trying to add ah a new habit and you want it to really stick, make it as simple as possible.
00:29:56
Speaker
And so I've been doing three things. I squat, I hang and I do some sort of lunge. And so what that looks like for me, I go down into my gym where I have a pull-up bar I can hang from. And I do this just for my shoulders, just to let them hang loose a little bit and just like create some, some separation in there and just like start to address some of those issues. Because a lot of people don't do things where their shoulders are put into a position where like they're overhead a lot. And like,
00:30:23
Speaker
if you don't do certain movements, if you don't use it, you lose it is the old saying. So like just starting to hang can start to address a lot of those areas in your upper back and your shoulders and things like that. So I hang for 30 seconds, then I hop off the pull-up bar.
00:30:36
Speaker
I get into a couch stretch position or a lunge hip flexor position, whatever you want to call it, basically, where like you're in a lunge position and then you elevate your back foot. And so you're getting a good stretch within your hips and your hip flexors, things like that.
00:30:50
Speaker
I do that because a lot of people have tight hips, myself included. And so I do that for 30 seconds on each side. And then the last thing that I do is I get into a deep squat for 30 seconds. So I grab like a 10 pound plate, 25 pound plate, something to just kind of weigh me down a little bit and help me sit into that squat a little bit deeper. But I just sit in that squat for 30 seconds. And then I just repeat that one more time. So this is something that you can do in like five to seven minutes pretty quickly.
00:31:14
Speaker
bang that out and you address a lot of these big areas that a lot of people struggle with with their upper back their shoulders their hips their low back things like that you start to do these little things it can start to add up over time and so it's something super simple but like if you think you know you do five minutes of mobility every single day by the end of the week that's 35 extra minutes focused on your flexibility and mobility that you would not have gone You think if you get an extra 30 minutes of stretching that it's going to help?
00:31:42
Speaker
Most likely. So I would encourage you to start to implement something like that and just start to create some sort of routine where you're just hitting these things just a little bit each day. And then the last thing I would say is to strengthen your back.
Strength Training for Back Health
00:31:55
Speaker
So sometimes people think that like strength training is bad for your back and it's the complete opposite. It's like having a weak back is what's bad for your back. Having a strong back is good for your back. And the way that you get strong is through strength training.
00:32:09
Speaker
So doing exercises like RDLs, deadlifts, back extensions, things that are going to strengthen your lower back, strengthen your glutes, strengthen your hamstrings all are going to be good for that lower back. And obviously you want to Progress this the right way and make sure that you're using proper form and technique and building up over time using progressive overload.
00:32:28
Speaker
But you can strengthen your back and you should strengthen your back so that you're able to handle these things and able to have good posture and able to reduce some of those pain and injuries and things like that.
00:32:39
Speaker
I know that a lot of people think about strength training as a way to just like build muscle and build strength, but it's huge for preventing injury because the stronger that you are typically the less injuries that you're going to have to deal with.
00:32:51
Speaker
And that was one thing that they always used to tell us, like when we're getting into athletics and, and like when I was studying strength and conditioning and things like that, like, athletes are obviously known for like strength training and yeah it's for performance and things like that but even more than that it's for injury prevention because if you're out of the game like if you can't do the things that you need to do well then you're not good to the team you're not good to yourself you can't get better and so priority number one was always to strength train and be strong so that we can prevent injuries and stay in the game and i think the same exact thing goes for life like think about that from a life perspective like
00:33:23
Speaker
if you're always having injuries if you're having aches and pains if your body feels like trash and it's because you're not strong and it's because you have these weaknesses and these injuries that keep popping up because you don't strength train well then that's probably something that you should start to prioritize so that you don't have to deal with these things because when you're always injured when you're always dealing with these aches and pains it just takes away from the quality of your life you can't do the things that you really want to do and then the last thing i would say is to start implementing the stewart mcgill big three And if you don't know what that is, just Google It's three movements that you can do super easy, super simple, but it's like a side plank, it's a curl up,
00:33:58
Speaker
And then it is a bird dog. And if again, if you don't know what those movements are, just Google them real quick and it'll show you exactly how to do it. But Stuart McGill is like the most widely known expert when it comes to dealing with back pain, ton of knowledge on this stuff. And so using this big three is something that I've done with clients in the past. And it's also something that I've used myself, like on my leg workouts, I always do this as part of my warmup, but it's something that you can start implementing every single day if you wanted to, to start to strengthen your back as well.
Episode Conclusion and Coaching Offer
00:34:26
Speaker
And so hopefully that gives you some places that you can start with, start dealing with some of those back issues because it's no fun when you're always having like certain aches and pains and things like that and dealing with that stuff. So with that being said, that is all five questions for this episode. i will be back next week with episode number 100. Kind of cool. but you found this helpful if there was some information in here that you think could help somebody else you can always share this with somebody just continue to get this podcast out to more people help to grow it even more in 2025 and then the last thing that i have is just some one-on-one coaching if you're interested in you have some weight loss goals you need some accountability you need a plan you want to actually make the best progress that you can this year rather than just spinning your wheels and just thinking like
00:35:10
Speaker
you know, letting another year go by and not really being where you want to be like reach out, let's talk, we'll get you going. We'll make sure that you are striving towards those goals that you have, but I appreciate you listening and we will see you next